Relationship between participation in leisure activities and constraints on Taiwanese breastfeeding mothers during leisure activities

Hsueh-Wen Chow,Yin-Han Dong

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-410

Abstract

BackgroundParticipation in leisure activities strongly associates with health and well-being. Little research has explored the relationship between participation in leisure activities and constraints on breastfeeding mothers during leisure activities. The purposes of this study are: 1) to investigate constraints on breastfeeding mothers during leisure activities and participation in leisure activities; 2) to investigate the differences between preferences for leisure activities and actual participation by breastfeeding mothers; 3) to segment breastfeeding mothers with similar patterns, using a cluster analysis based on the delineated participation in leisure activities and leisure preferences; 4) to explore any differences between clusters of breastfeeding mothers with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, breastfeeding behaviours and leisure constraints.MethodsThis study has a cross-sectional design using an online survey conducted among mothers having breastfeeding experiences of more than four months. The questionnaire includes demographic variables, breastfeeding behaviours, preferences for leisure activities participation, and constraints on leisure activities. Collection of data occurred between March and July 2011, producing 415 valid responses for analysis.ResultsFor breastfeeding mothers, this study identifies constraints on breastfeeding related to leisure activities in addition to the three traditional factors for constraints in the model. This study demonstrates that reports of constraints related to children, family, and nursing environments are the most frequent. Breastfeeding mothers in Taiwan participate regularly in family activities or activities related to their children. Cluster analysis classified breastfeeding mothers into Action and Contemplation groups, and found that mothers within the latter group participate less in leisure activities and experienced more constraints related to breastfeeding.ConclusionsImplications provide a developmental design for public health policies for nursing-friendly environments to increase opportunities for breastfeeding mothers to engage in leisure activities and suggest various types of activities to increase participation of that population.

Highlights

Participation in leisure activities strongly associates with health and well-being
Breastfeeding mothers have a lower rate of breast cancer [1,2], ovarian cancer [3,4,5], and osteoporosis [6]
The objectives of this study are: a) to investigate the constraints on leisure activities and participation in leisure activities experienced by breastfeeding mothers; b) to investigate the differences between preferences for leisure activities and actual participation among breastfeeding mothers; c) to examine the differences among various demographic variables relating to participation in leisure activities, and d) to identify any patterns among breastfeeding mothers, using cluster analysis based on their participation in leisure activities and leisure preferences; e) to explore differences among clusters of breastfeeding mothers with respect to socio-demographics, breastfeeding behavioural variables and leisure constraints

Summary

Introduction

Participation in leisure activities strongly associates with health and well-being. Little research has explored the relationship between participation in leisure activities and constraints on breastfeeding mothers during leisure activities. In a national study conducted in 2004, those that is breastfeeding, exclusively breastfeeding infants with only breast milk without other foods or liquids [13], in Taiwan was 33.21% when the baby was one month old, 16.93% for four–month old, and 13.13% at six-month old [14]. These statistics increased substantially to 58.8%, 36.2%, and 26.3%, respectively, in 2010 [15], mothers in Taiwan tend to cease breastfeeding earlier than the World Health Organization’s recommendation to continue exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months [16]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion